H. Leon Raper

Dance Biography

My Magic World of Music & Dance

Where, if only for a fleeting moment,
we become one with each other,
the music and the dance.

Where friends and lovers
share feelings that only dancers know.

Where time seems to stand still,
and we experience each other,
seemingly forever.

Where the rest of the world does not exist
. only you and I, the music and the dance .

Let me show you the world in which I live.

Please, take my hand,
come with me.

Introduction

I was born and raised in Phoenix Arizona, but moved to California in 1956
where I lived for over 31 years. My interest in dancing started in 1967.
After which I danced in over 400 swing dance contests (including the 1973 World
Championships). I have also taught
dancing for over 20 years and have been one of the dance instructors for the Greater
Phoenix Swing Dance Club and several other dance clubs.

Dance Club Founder

I was the founder and past president of three different swing dance clubs:
Jitterbug Club of America in Orange County California; Flagstaff Swing Dance Club in Flagstaff, AZ (still going); and the Verde Valley Swing Dance Club in Camp Verde, AZ.

1960's - Getting Started

Early in 1967 I saw an advertisement from a dance studio in Anaheim California.
They had an introductory offer of five lessons for $25 and the dance instructor
was beautiful. Like so many newcomers to dance, I was convinced I could learn
all there was to know about social dance in the five lessons. After about
the third lesson, I was beginning to realized that learning dance was a little
more challenging than I thought. When they tried to get me to sign a
$2,000 contract for dance lessons I quit the studio, but I didn't quit dance. I was hooked.

I then joined a ballroom dance class at Dale's Dance Studio in Whittier
California. It was there I spent two nights per week, 2 hours per night, for
over 1-1/2 years learning most of the ballroom dances which included West
Coast Swing. I also went out dancing many nights per week trying to perfect
my skills as a dancer.

My arts background, being a musician for many years, gave me the desire to
become a good dancer. However, my engineering and computers background made
me want to really understand the mechanics of movement and be able to write
dance. During this time period I was also going ballroom dancing at the
Golden West Ballroom in Downey, CA. That is where I was lucky enough to meet
Skippy Blair. I started attending her lessons and workshops and found
that her Universal Units System was exactly what I had been looking for. Working
with Skippy and learning her Universal Units System provided me with excellent
techniques for writing dance and helped me develop a real understanding of
the mechanics movement. From this I became a real dance techno-junkie allowing
me to rapidly expand my knowledge and abilities with advanced forms of dance.
I also studied with many other highly recognized dancers in the business including
Dean Collins, Jack & Teddy Pina, Willie Desatoff, Kenny Wetzel and many
others. In addition I attended many dance workshops with top instructors.

In 1968, one evening after the dance class was over at Dale's Dance
Studio, Dale took the dance class to see a swing dance contest at Stan's Night
Club in Downey California. It was the most exciting thing I ever saw. The
World Swing Dance Champions (Pat & Darleene) happened to be dancing that
night along with some of the best swing dancers in California. While the World
Champs were dancing, Pat put Darleene into a triple shoulder spin like a propeller
spinning three times around his shoulder. I was so impressed by everyone's
dancing that I decided that is what I wanted to do with my life. So, I began
entering contests and spent several years and danced over 400 contests
against the same people. It took me two years of hard work to develop that
triple shoulder spin, but I finally perfected it - including a great deal
of other competition dancing material.

In 1968 I joined the California Swing Dance Club that met at Stan's
Night Club in Downey, CA.

In 1969 I became a founding charter member (#17) of the Los Angeles Swing
Dance Club. I also became very active in the development of the club's bylaws.
I am still a charter member of the LASDC today.

1970's - 1980's

May 1971, I started writing and publishing the "Jitterbug Newsletter"
with the intent that it would be a central point of communications for the
swing dance community throughout the U.S. It was printed and mailed free to
anyone in the U.S. that wanted it -- at my own expense. The mailing list was
to over 500 swing dancers. The final issue was published in May of 1975.

July 7, 1973 my partner and I danced in the World Championship Swing Dance
Contest at the Palladium in Hollywood, CA. We didn't win, but it was great
dancing to Les Brown's Band in front of over 2,000 people.

January 1974, I wrote the book "Professional Competition Dancing."
At that time, as far as I know, it was the only book ever written on judging
and scoring techniques for competition dancing.

Mid 1974, I founded the "Jitterbug Club of America" which held
its dances in the Off Broadway West at the Grand Hotel in Anaheim, CA and
later at Alias Smith & Jones in Santa Ana, CA. My out of pocket cost was
over $5,000 to keep the club going.

1974-1985, I just went dancing for the enjoyment of it and honed my dance
techno-junkie skills by studying advanced forms of dance and teaching private
lessons. I was also a judge for many dance competitions.

1985, I moved to Flagstaff Arizona and started teaching dance classes --
sometimes three classes per week and mostly west coast swing. Since then I
have also taught classes Sedona, Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Beaver Creek and
Phoenix Arizona for the Greater Phoenix Swing Dance Club.

1990's

Early 1993 was the start of my Internet listing of all the swing dance clubs
throughout the world. I still update the site on a regular basis. The web
site also now contains links to a great deal of other dance information. This
was in the early days of the Internet, with primitive browsers and editors.
All the code had to be written in HTML by hand.

October 1993, I founded the Flagstaff Swing Dance Club, Inc. in Flagstaff,
AZ and served as president and dance instructor until October 1995 after which
I turned it over to a new board of directors. The club still meets on
a weekly basis.

1995, I published my book Who's Who in Swing Dance on the
Internet. The book gives long overdue recognition to those who have contributed
the most to the art, science and betterment of Swing Dance. The book covers
the period from the late 1920s (when the Charleston was making its transition
to the Lindy Hop) to the present. Today there are several web sites containing
this type of information, but mine was first on the Internet.

1998, I published my book Raper's Dance Dictionary on the Internet.
The book includes the definition of many terms used for social dancing.
It also indicates if there are different interpretations for some terms and
what each interpretation is. It goes much further than a normal dictionary.
It is really an encyclopedia of social dance.

2000 to Current

January 2000, I founded the Verde Valley Swing Dance Club in Camp Verde,
AZ. However, there wasn't enough support so the club folded.

Early 2005 I started taking lessons in International Standard and American Smooth Ballroom Dancing.

Early 2007 to current, I have been studying International Standard with John Berry -- one of the most knowledgeable dance coaches that I have ever met.

Enjoy the Journey

My personal enjoyment revolves around dancing and teaching
dance and constantly improving my skills. I also continue to write articles on dance
and continue my work with the SDRHA.

Over my many years as a dance instructor, I have taught West Coast Swing,
Lindy Hop, East Coast Swing, Hustle, Flying Lindy, Speed Shag, Balboa, and
advanced competition material such as aerials, lifts and drops. I have taught
ballrooms full of people how to safely execute aerials. I have also taught
Country/Western (2-Step, Half-Time, Pony, Chocolate City, Line Dances, Shuffles,
etc.), Waltz and Latin (Salsa, Cha Cha, Rumba, Mambo, Samba, Tango).

I feel the desire to dance is a highly contagious disease for which I hope
they never find a cure. The more you dance the worse the disease gets and
the more it spreads to others. I think dancing is the best physical and mental
therapy known to man. It helps bring new relationships together or helps restore
relationships that have fallen into difficulty. It helps build one's self
confidence, shows people how to meet new people and build that bond of friendship
with others that is a necessary component of a happy life.

Live It

A good friend of mine Jack Carey once made a very profound statement that
has stuck in my mind since the late 1960's. It was in response to a new dancer's
question. The person asked Jack, "how to you become a good dancer?"
Jack's response was, "you live it!" That is the way I have lived
my dance life and I have repeated his response hundreds of times to others
over the years.